Canvassing Board Could Certify Results Before Dec. 14
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A spokesperson for the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office says the canvassing board could certify a winner before the Dec. 14 deadline if the work is completed before then.
Republican candidate Tom Emmer has withdrawn 671 challenged ballots from last week's recount in the Minnesota governor's race. That leaves 90 challenges for the State Canvassing Board to examine Wednesday along with 91 challenges from the campaign of DFL candidate, Mark Dayton.
The Dayton campaign withdrew 88 ballot challenges.
The removal of challenges makes it nearly certain Mark Dayton will be declared the winner with a lead of around 9,000 votes.
The spokesperson from Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office said that she expects it would take the canvassing board just one day to get through those challenged ballots.
A survey conducted by Public Policy Polling shows about two-thirds of Minnesota respondents believe Emmer should concede.
"Keeping in mind what the public opinion polls are saying he'd (Emmer) probably be better off conceding as opposed to fighting this on," said Professor David Schultz of Hamline University.
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It's not certain who has been behind the challenging of ballots.
"It's not clear if this is something that's coming from Emmer himself or the Republicans who are trying to speak to their supporters" said Schultz.
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